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October 8, 2005
Photos of 500m in Seoul
Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States pushes Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada while Li Haonan of China follows them in the men's 500m quarterfinals event at the World Cup short track speedskating in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2005. Ohno was disqualified for the shove. (AP Photo/ Lee Jin-man)
Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S., Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada and Li Haonan of China compete during the men's 500m quarter-final of the second meet of the World Cup Short Track speedskating tournament in Seoul October 8, 2005. Ohno was disqualified for impeding at the event. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S., Francois-Louis Tremblay of Canada, Li Haonan of China and Fabio Carta of Italy compete during the men's 500m quarter-final of the second meet of the World Cup Short Track speedskating tournament in Seoul October 8, 2005. Ohno was disqualified for impeding at the event. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
Posted by noelle at 11:28 AM | Comments (24)
Associated Press | Ohno disqualified at S.Korean meet
Apolo Anton Ohno was disqualified for the second time in as many days Saturday at the South Korean World Cup speedskating event. Ohno, the 2002 Olympic gold medallist, was called for impeding halfway through the 500 meters quarterfinals. The American was eliminated from the 1,500 meters Friday for shoving South Korean Lee Ho-suk.
Shoving? That seems like a stretch.
Canada.com | Bedard and Roberge win medals for Canada at short-track speed skating event
It was Bedard's first individual World Cup medal since December 2003. "It's a great feeling to get back on the podium again, especially in an Olympic year," said Bedard. "We've had two big weeks of training and we're not suppose to be threatening for medals yet. To make finals and get a medal is great for the confidence."
Posted by noelle at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
Seoul World Cup Day 2 - Bad juju continues
It's been hard to watch this competition! Psychologically we knew it wouldn't be an easy World Cup but troubles just keep mounting for Team USA. They're handing out the DQ's like candy in Seoul, that's for sure! Is this some kind of judging crackdown prior to the Olympic qualifiers next month?
Strange goings-on in Seoul among the men. DQ number two for Ohno -- and for Smith? Doesn't seem possible... I've already received my first taunting email from Korea. Francois-Louis Tremblay was disqualified in the same quarter final as Apolo. Apolo appeared to win his race but we didn't get long to celebrate before the DQ flashed across... accompanied by disqualification for Tremblay, who finished last. Photo finish
Spirits in the chat were definitely lifted when one race later Hyun-soo Ahn met the same fate. Earlier, Ho-suk Lee, was disqualified one heat prior to Apolo's. So the gods of short track are keepinig things somewhat balanced.
Rusty added to the Americans' hard-luck case with his 2nd consecutive disqualification as well. Rusty's came in his 2nd-round heat. He started from lane 5 and the finish to this race was pretty wild. Rusty crossed the finish line on his backside. Hopefully none the worse for the wear!
Only J.P. Kepka had a normal exit from competition, though it too came too early (in the heats).
Things were calmer with the women. Allison Baver was the sole female survivor for the U.S. of the opening rounds as Caroline Hallisey and Hyo-jung Kim bowed out after their 2nd-round heats. Baver finished 3rd in her quarter final and did not move on. Yang Yang A was yet another heavy hitter who exited prematurely, with a DQ in her quarter final.
Okay, all that said... it's interesting to see what can happen when so many top skaters go down early. Great job by Jon Eley of Great Britain getting into his first invididual World Cup final! Canada has clearly recovered faster than projected from their grueling Olympic trials and tropical vacation, as they succeeded in qualifying 4 skaters into today's finals.
The women's final was a great combination of two Canadians and two Chinese. Alanna Kraus made her first individual World Cup final since 2003-04 and it was the 2nd ever for Kalyna Roberge. For her efforts, Roberge takes home bronze, well done! Eric Bedard skated a strong final and though he couldn't hold on for the win, he adds another silver medal to Canadai's hardware collection this weekend. Congratulations!
Women's 500m final: 1. Meng Wang, 2. Tianyu Fu, 3. Kalyna Roberge, 4. Alanna Kraus
Men's 500m final: 1. Haonan Li, 2. Eric Bedard, 3. Suk-woo Song, 4. Jon Eley, 5. Baojian Wang
Tomorrow is another day! And Apolo has many times before shown us how he can turn things around. Go USA!!
Oh yeah, and we're gonna be in the men's relay final, so that's something good for the USA that happened today!
Posted by noelle at 1:54 AM | Comments (18)
October 7, 2005
Video from Day 1 in Seoul
Thanks to our benefactor (benefactress?) Starangel, we have access to basically the entire first day of racing in Seoul. See the comments to this post for access info. There is over 2 hours of footage here.
It's start off with women's heats and men's quarter finals. To expedite your viewing, some key races take place at these points in the video:
- Women's semis start at about 1:05
- Men's semis start at about 1:20
- Ladies' final begins around 1:50
- Men's final begins around 1:57
It took some efforts and assistance from my coworker to get this playing for me, so here are some screen shots I took while watching this in case not everyone can get in to watch:
Kim Dong-sung on the right provides commentary for the broadcast
Caroline stretches
The refs confer
Apolo after his semifinal
Attendance is pretty sparse on day 1
Women's 1500m silver medalist Evgenia Radanova reaches out to congratulate winner Yang Yang A
The camera catches Apolo's eye waiting to race in the 1500m final
Hey look! It's Yuki!
Click the 'continue reading' link for play-by-play and 'spoilers.'
Video begins with heats, then men's quarter finals -- then they replay the men's quarter finals during the zamboni break. They also show the races out of order, so it gets confusing to remember what you're watching!
The attendance at the venue appears sparse, but this is a weekday afternoon. Still, they get those drums going whenever a Korean is skating and the crowd makes noise when one of their skaters starts to pass. Loads of cute kids in the stands.
Rusty looked good in his quarter final. I guess he was DQ'ed for impeding on Chataignier, or maybe x-tracking? Hard to tell ... Chataignier was making the pass. I wouldn't want to be a judge!
They are being good about announcing DQ's in the venue after the fact. You often hear the venue announcer announce a DQ from the previous race while the following one is taking place, but I didn't hear one in Rusty's case.
Allison's semi is pretty exciting! She starts strong and hangs in there... Radanova is so strong in this race! And the poor Korean girl falls there in the last lap. No DQ's or discretionary advancements for her though... There was some jostling with her and Mile Zhu the lap before. Anyway, she looks a bit shaken up, hope she is ok.
Apolo's semi is 1st -- a really nice race! He makes it look so easy, like a skate in the park. To make Nick happy I'll comment on how well Apolo and Mathieu work together to block Oh. Oh tries to set something up but he just can't get around the North American Wall.
In Guilmette's semi with about 7 to go, suddenly he and Jiajun slip out of the frame as though someone grabbed hold of their britches and yanked backwards. On the replay, Jiajun appears to be squeezed between Praus and Jo, then slips up behind Jo, stumbles and falls. Jiajun's left arm trips up Jo's left foot and he too falls.
Still not sure why Jiajun was not DQ'ed. Did a movement from Jo set off the reaction that led to Jiajun's stumble and Jo's fall in turn? I don't think so from the side angle. Or maybe it's because Jiajun clearly wasn't going to make it to the final in any case? Not that that usually prevents a DQ...
Then they replay men's and women's semis just to confuse me a bit more.
I'm actually starting to get tired of watching short track. It's taking forever to get to the finals!
Women's final - It's an impressive display of power when Radanova launches her move around the outside of the pack to take a huge lead. Wish she could have held on for the win. This final was every bit as exciting as it appeared on the Live Cyberscoreboard!
Yikes! I got nervous all over again just watching the men go. I think the DQ pretty clearly happened with a lap to go, you see the contact with Apolo and Lee. They don't replay it or announce it in any case as the entire clip ends right after the race. Hey, Apolo was going for it and very nearly got himself a spot on the podium! Oh well, DQ's happen.
Aside - I am glad we have an all-blue skinsuit this year. Too many red, white and blue countries. France is starting to look like Great Britain to me. Russia and Netherlands blend together too.
Posted by noelle at 5:26 PM | Comments (3)
CBS Sportsline.com | Ohno's villain status in South Korea boosted by DQ
That headline makes me ill. It's another thinly-reported article though so hopefully it's more hyperbole than reality though it makes a neat narrative for the naysayers....
[Update] Interestingly everyone else carrying this story is so far playing it more straightforwardly. As an AP report, the underlying story is identical, but editors can write their own headlines for these stories if they choose to. Most U.S. media, such as USA Today and ESPN.com, seem to be using a default AP headline:
Ohno disqualified at South Korean World Cup
Posted by noelle at 10:27 AM | Comments (22)
News photos from Seoul
Turcotte, Ohno, Ahn in 1500m final
Mathieu Turcotte of Canada, Apolo Anton Ohno of the U.S. and Ahn Hyun-soo of South Korea compete during the men's 1,500m final at the second meet of the World Cup Short Track event in Seoul October 7, 2005. Ahn won the first place with a time of 2:19.783, Turcotte took the second place with a time of 2:20.117 and Ohno was disqualified for impeding at the event. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
After the 1500m final
Apolo Ohno of the U.S. reacts after the men's 1,500m final at the second meet of the World Cup Short Track event in Seoul October 7, 2005. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
Glad to see some things don't change!
Apolo Ohno of the U.S. yawns before the men's 1,500m final at the second meet of the World Cup Short Track in Seoul October 7, 2005. Ohno, once dubbed South Korea's most hated athlete, is making his first appearance in the country since he earned the wrath of Koreans by winning a controversial Olympic gold medal in 2002. REUTERS/Lee Jae-Won
Fierce competition: Apolo Anton Ohno of the United States and Ahn Hyun-soo of South Korea compete in the men’s 1,500-meter quarterfinals of the 2005-2006 Short Track World Cup tournament at Mok-dong Indoor Ice Rink in Seoul, Friday. Ohno and Ahn advanced to the semifinals. /Yonhap
Korea Times | Ahn Wins in Ohno Face-Off
Posted by noelle at 8:17 AM | Comments (20)
Seoul World Cup Day 1
1500m finals
Of all the things to have happen at a meet in Korea, Apolo getting disqualified ranks pretty far down towards the bottom of my list because it plays into some of the Korean fans' and media's darker views. What a pity! He did make it to the 1500m final though where he skated a valiant race, only to finish out of the medals and was subsequently disqualified, to general dismay in the land of OZ.
Inevitably, Hyun-soo Ahn won the race, with teammate Ho-suk Lee getting bronze. Mathieu Turcotte intervened to win silver for Canada. For a while the two Koreans were in front, followed by three Canadians and then Apolo. It would be interesting to know if his disqualification came as he tried to work his way back up or not. The Korea Times reports that Apolo was disqualified for impeding on Lee.
In any case, making this final has to count as a big psychological victory even if Apolo doesn't have any hardware to show for it! He's skating on a much-improved but still sore ankle and had to conquer demons to compete here at all. Now he can start to put this behind and move on to the next challenge.
It was exciting to see all 3 Canadian men make it to the 1500m semifinal -- evidently skating a stronger game than they've been talking. In a day filled with disqualifications, Jonathan Guilmette made it in after being advanced following a fall in his semi final. Does anyone else think it's odd that he was advanced without another skater being disqualified? That is a first in my book.
All three Chinese women made it into the women's final - no North Americans! Still, it seemed likely that Koreans were going to win this race as Chun-sa Byun and Sun-yu Jin appeared to have control of the race during the middle laps. Then with 4 laps to go, Evgenia Radanova powered from 5th to 1st with Yang Yang A on her heels. Yang seized the lead in the final lap for the victory, with Radanova second and Jin and Byun 3rd and 4th. Very cool race!
1500m qualifying
Breathed a sigh of relief to see Apolo get that first race on Korean ice under his belt. He wasn't eased in gradually either, since he faced Se-jong Oh in his heat followed by Hyun-soo Ahn in his quarter final. But Apolo got the job done nicely. He went to win his semi final to become the lone U.S. skater to make it to the finals.
Rusty Smith faced Ahn in his opening heat and finished 2nd. Unfortunately he was disqualified in his quarter final, evidently for impeding. J.P. Kepka made it through the first two rounds uneventfully. Skating in a crowded 7-man field for his semifinal he started strong but faded to 6th.
Kristen Biondo was eliminated in the heats. Hyo-jung Kim and Allison Baver both made it to the semifinals where they were eliminated despite strong efforts.
Relay heats
The heartbreak adds up. As of this writing, the U.S. women's relay team of Baver, Kim, Kimberly Derrick and Caroline Hallisey appeared to skate to a strong 2nd-place finish in their heat behind Canada but they too were disqualified afterwards. Will update men's results later.
The U.S. men -- Ohno, Smith, Kepka and Travis Jayner -- won their heat, ahead of Japan, Netherlands and Russia and qualified for the relay semis.
Posted by noelle at 3:11 AM | Comments (5)
October 5, 2005
Seoul World Cup schedule - updated with starting heats
Here are the start times for World Cup 2:
Day 1
Thursday, October 6 at 11:30 PM ET | 10:30 PM CT | 9:30PM MT | 8:30PM PT
There will be 4 rounds of men and 3 rounds of ladies
Day 2
Friday, October 7 at 11:30 PM ET | 10:30 PM CT | 9:30PM MT | 8:30PM PT
5 rounds each of men and ladies
Day 3
Saturday, October 8 at 9:20PM ET | 8:20PM CT | 7:20PM MT | 6:20PM PT
5 rounds of men and ladies
Watch results live at Live Cyberscoreboard.
The chat room will be open -- you can join here if you haven't yet!
***
Opening lineups for 1500m heats:
Men
Heat 2 - Rusty Smith (Rusty gets to go against Hyun-soo Ahn all weekend long in his first round heats!)
Heat 4 - Apolo Ohno (he has a lesser-known Korean, Se-jong Oh. Oh was last active during the 2002-03 season)
Heat 10 - J.P. Kepka
Women
Heat 1 - Hyo-jung Kim
Heat 4 - Kristen Biondo
Heat 9 - Allison Baver
Reminder: The men will skate first since they have 1 extra round to skate.
Relay heats:
USA women are in heat 1 with Canada, Hungary and Italy. Top 2 teams plus next 2 fastest 3rd advance to the semifinals. USA men also skate in heat 1 against Japan, Netherlands and Russia. Top 2 teams in each heat advance to semis.
We'll see the first of Caroline Hallisey in international competition for quite some time. She is slated to skate the 500m on Saturday. Seems surprising that two-time World Champ Eun-kyung Choi still isn't skating individually for Korea. She did participate in the relay last weekend in China.
Posted by noelle at 5:29 PM | Comments (12)
New Reuters photos and Korean news video clip
This Korea jaunt has already provided us a boon of press coverage and photos. Two more from today's U.S. team practice just came acros the wires:
Apolo, Rusty, Alex and Halie
U.S. short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno practices with his teammates in Seoul October 5, 2005. Ohno is in Seoul to compete in 2005-2006 ISU Short Track World Cup second event to be held October 7-9. South Korean short track speed skater Kim Dong-sung was disqualified for impeding Ohno in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. The controversial disqualification outraged South Koreans. REUTERS/You Sung-Ho
U.S. short track speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno practices in Seoul October 5, 2005. REUTERS/You Sung-Ho
Brief video clip - scenes of the U.S. and Korean teams at practice sessions. It's all in Korean except for a sound bite from Apolo (we saw a still photo from this interview yesterday) and even a glimpse of Fabio Carta near the end. Click the image below to watch.
Posted by noelle at 9:54 AM | Comments (8)
Korea Times | S. Korea Braces for Short Track Events
The headline makes it sound like they're dreading it.
This article recaps the Korean team's performance in China and talks about their strategy for this weekend. Despite the meet's relative unimportance (results have no bearing on Olympic qualifiers), the Korean men's team coach says they're going to go all out as though it were the Olympic Games. There is the hometown crowd to please, plus I doubt any Korean skater relishes the prospect of losing to Ohno on home ice!
The Korean national team regards the second event as the rehearsal for the 2006 Olympic Winter Games held in Torino, Italy and plans to devote all its energy to it.
"We will focus on this event, not only as an individual international event, but as an opportunity to get us ready for upcoming Olympic Winter Games,'' said Song Jae-keun, head coach of the men's national team.
"The first event was a kind of testing to get the hang of strong point of each player. In the second, I will dispatch best players in each race as if I were running the final entry for the Olympics,'' he said.
Kim Dong-sung will again meet Apolo Anton Ohno, this time not as an archenemy but as a television commentator. He recently debuted as a short track commentator and is set to cover the second event.
Posted by noelle at 9:43 AM | Comments (6)
October 4, 2005
A couple more photos of Apolo's arrival in Seoul
I found some more photos on a Korean news site. There are some articles too, which I hope to have translated tomorrow by a Korean coworker.
One very interesting tidbit: It seems that none other than Kim Dong-sung will commentate Apolo's races at the World Cup for the Korean audience (presuming Apolo will skate). In addition, Kim's been quoted as saying, "Getting me and Ohno involved to raise anti-American feelings isn’t right. What happened in the past is history."
sporting the ponytail!
Posted by noelle at 9:39 PM | Comments (9)
New AP photos of Apolo in Korea
Apolo addresses a reporter with Derrick Campbell looking on
U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno answers reporter's question after an exercise session in Seoul, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. The U.S. short-track star has tried to soothe lingering anger over his disputed Olympic gold medal win over a South Korean rival in 2002 by praising South Korea's devotion to speedskating and pointing to the capricious nature of the high-speed sport. (AP Photo/ Yonhap/ Han Sang-kyun)
Apolo with coach Jimmy Jang
U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno looks at his coach Jang Kwon-ok during an exercise session in Seoul, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. (AP Photo/ Yonhap, Han Sang-kyun)
Apolo, Rusty and Travis at practice session Tuesday in Seoul
U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno exercises with his teammates during an exercise session in Seoul, Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005. (AP Photo/ Yonhap, an Sang-kyun)
Posted by noelle at 12:24 PM | Comments (15)
October 3, 2005
Update on Apolo, his injury and South Korea
A lengthy AP article just came across the wires. Sounds like Apolo is on the mend from his ankle injury, saying it feels 'much better' but he'll take things day to day. Apolo says he was reassured by the tight security greeting him upon arrival, but is frustrated that his access to the Korean media is being blocked -- apparently by the local organizing committe. Apolo sees this as his best opportunity to speak directly to the Korean public and he's already issued statements reflecting his goodwill towards Korea and Koreans.
Associated Press | Ohno tries to mend wounds in South Korea amid security
(via USA Today)
Ohno still wants to get his message out to South Korean fans. He hopes organizers will loosen up their restrictions on the media.
"I guess we're running into some problems about whether it's a good idea," he said. "On our side, we definitely think so. All the people from the U.S. definitely want to set something up and have a positive influence."
Posted by noelle at 9:57 PM | Comments (7)
Apolo-palooza at USOlympicteam.com
The USOC has been promoting the heck out of short track lately and they're at it again today with Apolo front and center. There's coverage of the team's results from China, a new Apolo photo gallery and Q & A from his recent telephone press conference.
Check out USOlympicteam.com
Posted by noelle at 5:02 PM | Comments (5)
Security turns out in force for Apolo's arrival in Seoul
Associated Press | Tight security for skater Ohno at airport
INCHEON, South Korea -- Apolo Ohno, whose 2002 Olympic gold medal angered South Koreans, arrived Monday amid tight airport security for a short-track competition.
About 100 riot police stood guard as the American short-track star arrived and left Incheon International Airport outside Seoul.
Ohno was the target of strong criticism in South Korea after winning the 1,500-meter short-track final at the Salt Lake City Games. South Korea's Kim Dong-sung finished first but was disqualified for impeding Ohno.
Ohno severely sprained an ankle during a race in China on Sunday but hopes to compete in a World Cup event that begins Friday in Seoul.
News photos:
The scene at Seoul airport
South Korean riot police officers stand guard to protect U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno from protesters at the Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, Monday, Oct. 3, 2005. Ohno, whose controversial Olympic gold medal angered South Koreans in 2002, arrived for a short-track competition on Monday as authorities provided tight security for him over concerns of violence. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
Policemen, security guards hired by the Korea Skating Union, and officials from the U.S. embassy in Seoul escort U.S. short track speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno as he arrives at an airport in Inchon, west of Seoul October 3, 2005. Ohno arrived in South Korea to compete in 2005-2006 ISU Short Track World Cup second event to be held in Seoul October 7-9. (REUTERS/Jeon Kyung-woo/Newsis)
I also received this photo of the scene at Seoul airport from an OZ operative not connected to the U.S. team:
This witness describes the scene:
It looked like George Bush was arriving at the Korean airport today with about 100 police officers lined up and TV crews waiting. I thought it was for the Korean team arriving back but it was a security measure for Apolo. Two people came out of the luggage area and were mobbed accidentally because they were assumed to be Apolo. Then Apolo finally came out. TV crews and reporters were just going crazy and broke through the security as they ran him out of the terminal into a car. They ran him behind that red rope [you see in the photo above].
Posted by noelle at 10:13 AM | Comments (16)
October 2, 2005
World Cup Day 3
Ankle injury forces Apolo out of competition in Hangzhou
Just before the 1000m finals yesterday, an unsettling announcement flashed across Live Cyberscoreboard: Apolo would sit out the 3000m with an injury. In fact, he also skipped the men's relay final and we can now understand what caused Apolo's stunning upset in the 1000m qualifying rounds, where he failed to make it out of the heats. According to Apolo's dad who is with him in China:
Apolo's injury stems from the 500m quarter final. With 1 lap to go in the straightaway, a push by the Canadian skater sent him flying through the air. He landed on the ice on his hip and ankle. Apolo was able to finish that race and was then advanced to the semi final round due to the Canadian skater's DQ.
Today, Apolo had a hard time using his ankle to push in the 1000m prelim and heats. The U.S. coaches and USOC doctor unanimously advised him not to skate further events in order to protect his injured ankle and I agree 100% that this was the correct decision. I was able to manage through a Chinese interpreter to have an additional doctor on call to the ice rink for immediate treatment along with the USOC's doctor.
Apolo has a severely sprained ankle. We are all on the same page that the priority must be a full recovery from this injury. We certainly hope that his recovery is fast enough so he can compete in Seoul [next week at World Cup #2].
Thanks to Yuki Ohno for letting us know Apolo's status and details of his injury. As heartsick as we all were to hear he had been hurt, it's a huge relief to know he's taking the right precautions and has a great team looking after him! Be safe, Apolo. We send you all our best wishes for a speedy recovery!
***
Relay finals
It was exciting to see both the U.S. men and women in the relay finals in Hangzhou -- a great start to the season and a very promising sign leading up to the Olympic qualifiers next month in Europe. Both teams finished 4th yesterday in their finals.
The U.S. women's team of Hyo-jung Kim, Kristen Biondo, Allison Baver and Caroline Hallisey were right there with the Korean and Canadian teams at the finish. The U.S. men (Travis Jayner, Rusty Smith, J.P. Kepka and Alex Izykowski), along with the Canadian team, finished well off the pace behind the Korean and Chinese teams, but considering the absence of their anchor and Jayner skating on backup blades, we think they put in a fine performance. This is just the beginning!
Alex Izykowski in an exchange during the men's relay final
photo by sina.com
1000m finals and qualifying
The Chinese women -- and Meng Wang in particular -- continued their domination and Wang completed her sweep, with a victory in the 1000m. Yang Yang A took silver and Korea settled for a bronze by Sun-yu Jin. Hyun-soo Ahn upgraded his two previous silvers with a victory in the men's final (and kept the red helmet cover after all - I'll never tempt fate with a flip remark about that again). Jiajun Li earned silver and Ho-suk Lee took bronze.
Most of the wind left our sails after Apolo Ohno failed to advance out of his 1000m heat in the 2nd qualifying round today. I had come up with what now seems like a totally improbably scenario to explain this, but at the time we had no inkling of his injury.
Apolo skates in his 1000m heat
photo by sina.com
The performance of the remaining skaters rallied the stalwart group of fans 'watching' the races together, as alone among the U.S. skaters, J.P. Kepka and Allison Baver advanced through to the semi finals.
J.P. gave it his all in a loaded (and crowded) semi with a surge to the front midway through the race, but he finished out of qualifying position and was then disqualified for his efforts. Alex Izykowski skated a strong prelim in the same heat as Hyun-soo Ahn. Though he made a late pass to finish 2nd, Alex was disqualified and did not move on.
On the women's side, only Allison Baver made it to the semifinals. She put in a strong effort in a tough field but was never able to put herself into qualifying position. It's been pointed out that she earned a new personal best of 1:31.134 for her efforts, shaving more than. .4 sec. off her previous mark set earlier this year in Beijing -- congratulations to Allison!
Earlier, Hyo-jung Kim finished last in a very tough quarter final. Kimberly Derrick was unable to move up in her opening race and was eliminated in the preliminaries.
3000m superfinals
No energy or enthusiasm to talk about the 3000m races. For women's results, go here and for men's results, go here. (Seeing that DNS by Apolo's name made me flinch!)
Overall standings - Four top 10 finishes for U.S. skaters
Apolo still managed to finish 4th overall in spite of his difficulties on days 2 and 3.
Men's rankings: 1. Hyun-soo Ahn, 2. Jiajun Li, 3. Ho-suk Lee, 4. Apolo Ohno, 5. Ho-jin Seo, 8. J.P. Kepka
Women's rankings: 1. Meng Wang, 2. Yang Yang A, 3. Sun-yu Jin, 4. Evgenia Radanova, 5. Nina Evteeva, 7. Allison Baver, 8. Hyo-jung Kim, 22. Kimberly Derrick
Complete race results are available at Cyberscoreboard.
Congratulations to the whole U.S. team on some very strong performances in Hangzhou. Here's hoping their luck turns around a bit for Seoul.
Posted by noelle at 6:02 AM | Comments (34)